and in all the children's games you will be one of the first. You will not be a Christian when you are disagreeable, but when you are most lovely; when you give up a pleasure for some one else to have it; when you so rule your temper that you may not return an angry word or a blow; when you are pained to hear an impure or untrue word. Then boys and girls will be right if they say to themselves, "Oh, that boy or that girl is a Christian." The child we have been thinking about did not hesitate to come when Jesus called him. He did not say, "I can't understand such a great Teacher, and I am sure I'm not old enough to do what so holy a Saviour expects me to do." No; he knew that Jesus did not expect children to do more than they could do that He only wanted them to love Him, and to try-yes, that is the word, to try to please Him. So he went to Him. Other boys might laugh at the boy for coming; the disciples even might tell him to go away; still he was not afraid of any of them; so he went to Jesus and set us all a good example. And was it not a good thing that it was so-that he obeyed Jesus at once? for thus he became a little Christian at once, and his whole future was happier and better for it. The little fellow might have said No. He had to choose which he would do, say No to Jesus or say Yes to Him. Such a time comes to you whenever sin and Jesus are near. Which do you obey? Perhaps it has come to-night, when your heart is tender, and holy thoughts are in you. How will you use it? On the summit of a hill in Wiltshire I have seen a grotto where there is a basin that always brims over with crystal water, which flows away in two distinct streams. Some of the water goes away in one stream, some goes away in another, and on they go flowing away to the sea. But they go to different seas-seas very far from one another. I could take a little water in a cup and pour it into which of the two streams I liked; so that just one turn in my wrist would alter all the course and change the final home of the water in that cup. So is it with a child's life and its future: what it will be and where it will end depends on your choice, whether you will try earnestly to please Jesus, or whether you will try to keep free from Jesus and all serious thought about Him, and only please yourself. Jesus is near, calling you to Himself. He wants you to be His dear children, as He wanted that boy; and He can make your hearts good and happy, as He made that little boy's. SECOND EVENING. Opening Hymn: "By cool Siloam's shady rill." Lesson: Luke ii. 41--52. Concluding Hymn: "Glory to Thee, my God, this night." HIS even ing we will take a flower to be our teacher. Many flowers can teach, but now it shall be the rose that speaks, and it shall speak of Him who was called "the Rose of Sharon." I think we shall find several things which are true of a rose that are also true of Jesus, for it is Jesus who is called the Rose of Sharon. Now, what shall we say first? Let us think first of Jesus being a child. When we plant a young rose-bush, we do not expect that it will remain always the same size; but, because it lives, we feel sure that it will grow. It seems a strange thing, and yet it is true, that though Jesus was the Son of God, He was once a child, and "grew in wisdom and in stature." There are some very fine pictures which represent Jesus as a child. Some of them have rather foolish things in them, such as rings of light round His head and round the heads of His mother and Joseph and His friends, which none of them ever had. One of these pictures is by one of the greatest painters of the world, and though it has these faults in it, yet it is a pleasant picture, because it reminds us that Jesus was once a child-a real, fine, healthy child (you may see it on page 561). And so it is a children's picture, teaching a children's truth which children should never forget. For as Jesus was once a child, He had the thoughts of a child. He played games and learned lessons just as you do, and because He never forgets anything, He always under- If amid your youthful fun you love to think of Him, and try to avoid grieving Him-if you pray to Him -if you natu rally tell Him about the trou ble you had when you failed in your lesson, or about your angry temper when you were vexed-if you thank Him for all your enjoyments, you may believe yourself to be one of God's dear children -for God has dear children as well as dear grown good for no thing. It had grown, but be cause it had grown in the dark it was spoilt, for it required, as all living things require, air and sunshine. Now, the Bible says that if we have not God in our hearts they are in the dark; so, if we forget God and live as though He did not love us, Our hearts grow in the dark. We ought to be like Jesus, who grew up to be a man in the light of the smile of God. Now one more thing about the rose. Roses grow in common soil and out in the open air. If by yourself. Thoughts about God, and wishes | Some people have conservatories, which are to please Him, will be your sunshine. That very warm, in which many rare and deliis, just as the sunshine is necessary to make cate plants grow. But in such places as the rose in the garden grow stronger and those you do not find ordinary roses. stronger, so thoughts of God and love of I wanted to show you roses in perfection, I Him will make you better. Jesus, when a should take you to a certain village that I child, grew by the light of God's love, and know of, where only poor people live, where this you want. Once I lived in an old house, are only small thatched cottages, with perunderneath which was a dark cellar that was haps two rooms in them, in which is hardly any furniture. But oh, the roses outside the cottages! They grow all over the gardens, they climb up the cottage walls, they peep in at the windows, they clamber over the porches, they kiss you as you stoop to enter the doors, they run up and cover the thatch, -there are roses in germ, roses in bud, roses in full bloom, they are here and there and everywhere, and though so beautiful, they grow just like the commonest and plainest plant. Every breeze that blows gets sweeter as it passes them, on its merry way to the fields. It seems as if God wanted to make up to these poor cottagers for man's neglect. Well, and what of all these rose-trees? Why, they remind us of Him who gladdens the homes of the very poorest, and, sharing humble toil, makes it sweet and holy. Why think you was Jesus born in a stable, and had only a cattle-manger for his cradle? Why was His home not the palace of a king, but a peasant's cottage? Why did He do the work of a common carpenter, and choose His daily friends from amongst the fishermen? Don't you think that He did all this because He wanted to show that there is no home too humble for Him to enter, and no heart too small for Him to come into. He will very gladly come into yours if only you will let Him. Roses will grow in common soil, and will beautify the poorest cottage. So will Jesus, make your life bright with joy, beautiful with holiness. There is one thing more I should like to say about the rose. It is unlike many flowers in this, it is both fragrant and beautiful. This is why it keeps its place in our gardens in spite of all changes in fashion. Some flowers, like lavender, smell sweet, but they are not beautiful, and some, like the dogviolet, are very beautiful, but have no scent at all. Our gardeners try to please the sight more than the smell, and I have been in gardens where there are scarcely any fragrant flowers at all. All the beds are of beautiful shape, and colours are prettily arranged; but the whole garden reminds me more of a Chinese puzzle than of a beautiful paradise. But the rose is fragrant as well as lovely, and so is a good emblem of the spirit of Jesus, which is sweet as well as beautiful, pleasant as well as holy. There was about the Lord Jesus a sweet influence which people loved to feel: He was so devout that the careless felt reverent when near Him; He was so patient that His disciples did not fear to tell Him their mistakes and faults; He was so gentle and loving that despised and despairing sinners were drawn to come near to Him, and the sick knew well that He would give them a healing touch. People did not know why they felt so, but so they did. The rose needs only to live, and by its sweet scent you feel and know that it is there. So Jesus was known; and those who know Him now feel that the breath of God is in Him, and the light of heaven around Him; and they call Him still the Rose of Sharon. Make that sweet Saviour your daily friend. old." THIRD EVENING. Opening Hymn: "I think, when I read that sweet story of Lesson Matt. xiii. 31-46. Concluding Hymn: "Glory to Thee, my God, this night." Last Sunday evening we were thinking of the rose; to-night we will take another flower, the lily of the valley, and see what it can tell us of Jesus. The lily is found after search. Any one can see a rosebush, even in the winter, though it has neither blossoms nor leaves. But the lily dies down in the autumn, and when its dead leaves are cleared away, nothing is left to tell you where it lies buried. You forget where it is, though you pass it by every day, and dig around it, and plant other flowers above it. Still it is there, hidden, but real and living. When the Son of God came to earth there was very little to direct the world's attention to Him. He might have bidden the angels sound their trumpets till the very earth was shaken; He might have ascended the throne of an earthly king, and compelled people to obey Him. But, instead of this, He lived so quietly that those who lived in the same town thought he was only a carpenter's son; and even when His ministry began, He fulfilled Isaiah's word, "He shall not cause His voice to be heard in the streets." People had to seek Jesus if they really wanted Him, and ever since then He has said of Himself," they that seek me early shall find me." Then, too, when we think of the way in which Jesus received those who came to Him, He is better represented by the lily than by the rose, for He never repelled any one. There is no rose without a thorn, and when you have tried to gather one hastily you have had a prick, or a scratch. But when you see a thick bed of lilies you may push your hand in amongst the cool bright leaves fearlessly, for they are so gentle that they yield to your touch, as you gather their fragrant flowers. What a good thing it would be if every one were as gracious as Jesus! He never treats people unkindly, even those who are unkind neighbour. He settles down on any flower if to Him. His love is greater than that of the father whose daughter had sinned so sadly that she thought he never could forgive her but when at last he knew where she was, he sent one line of love to her which contained these three words: " ready to forgive;" that was all, but it was enough to soften her heart, to make her sorry for her sin, and to bring her home, like the prodigal, from the far country. Jesus says this, and does something more besides. He seeks us; He comes Himself, in order to save that which is lost. And when you feel that He is calling you and touching you by His lovewhen you earnestly wish to be better, daily better than you are, remember that then you are His, for He has said, "My sheep hear my voice." Once two men quarrelled about a sheep, and they came before a magistrate somewhere that he might decide to whom it belonged. The case was opened by counsel, witnesses spoke on one side and then on the other, and no one knew how the question I would be settled. But the judge was a shrewd man, and knew the habits of shepherds, so he said to one of the officers, "Bring the sheep in." How the people did smile to see a sheep brought into the court ! They wondered what was coming next. "Now," said the judge to one of the men, "call the sheep." He tried, but the sheep did not know his voice, and would not move an inch. The other man was waiting in the next room, and when he made his call, away the sheep bounded to its master. Then said the judge, "The sheep is his." Now, if you want to know whether you are amongst the lambs of Christ's flock, just see to whom you go when on the one side sin calls you to disobedience, impurity, or untruth, and on the other side Jesus calls you away from these things to be good. The call to you to be good is always the voice of Jesus. Before we finish our talk, let me ask you not to be content with hearing about Jesus but to think of Him. Let us fancy that there are two insects in a flower-garden. One is a gorgeously beautiful insect, and flies from flower to flower, every now and then stopping on one to sip a little sweet nectar from it, but only when the nectar is very easy to get. That insect is called a butterfly. But there is another insect-in the same garden. He is not so handsome-looking, and does not show so much, for his colours are rather dull; but he gets far more sweet things from the flowers than his more showy there is honey in it, however hard it is to get at it. The butterfly passes by that sort of flower, but the bee opens it, pushes his way down into it, creeps on till he is buried in the flower. At last, out he comes into the sunshine laden with plenty of honey. Now, when we are hearing sweet stories about Jesus and enjoying them we are like the butterfly in the gardens, but when we try to do what Jesus wants us, when we are trying very hard, then we are like the busy little bee. Listening to what is read or said to you on Sunday evenings is all pleasure and no trouble; but if you wish really to get good and be good that is trouble-but it will bring you sweetness too. Think, then, of Jesus, and try so to take him to your heart that you may feel that He is your Saviour and your Lord. When you gather a single lily, you can say: "This flower is mine," and so you may have Jesus for yours. He is like a rose and like a lily; you may have Him for yourself and say, "He is my Lord and my God." FOURTH EVENING. Opening Hymn: "Jesus, high in glory." Lesson: Matt. xi. 25-30. Concluding Hymn: "Glory to Thee, my God, this night." I once saw a very aged scholar trying to learn to write, and, poor old man! though he tried hard, he could not get on at all. Slowly taking his seat, he held the pen in his hard, stiff hand, and then turning the copy-book aslant-as, you know, young writers are told not to do he squared his elbows, put his head down close to the desk, and at last began. He tried so very hard to form the letters that the perspiration stood in beads on his forehead, but somehow the pen would not go straight, and the blots and smudges would come, until, in despair, he looked up from his work with a sigh, and said—“I s'pose I be too old to larn!" It was a great pity that it was so, but he was quite right. He ought to have begun to learn when he was young; and it is easier to learn anything when we are young, than it is when we are old. When Jesus says to us, "Learn of me,” He hopes that boys and girls will be the most ready to do what He asks, and become His disciples; for it is young people who find more than others do that the Christian yoke is an easy yoke, and the Christian burden a light one. Well, then, you must know that children, like everybody else, know very little unless |